Why The World Needs A Happiness Campaign To Live Better

Kathy Caprino
, I cover career and personal growth, leadership and women's issues.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Part of the series "The Happiness - Success Connection"

I’ve found in my career coaching and success training work that while clients come to me for better careers, what they really want is happier lives. That’s what millions of us around the world are striving for – living more joyfully, peacefully, and committedly, and generating more satisfaction and reward in the work we do and the relationships we’ve created.

Knowing that happiness is key focus (and a gap) in our American culture today (just look at the huge popularity of Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, and other books, films and articles focused on happiness, including mine), I was intrigued when I learned about a new magazine – Live Happy-- launching in April, and the Acts of Happiness Campaign that accompanies it, focusing on helping people live more happily. I caught up with Joseph Panetta, Live Happy’s Communications Chief, to learn more from the man who calls it his mission to “spread the message of happiness worldwide every day.”

I asked Joseph this one key question: Why do we need a magazine and a happiness campaign in the world to help us experience more happiness?

Here’s what Joseph shared:

“Do you recycle? Separate your soda cans and newspapers from other trash? Know the difference between a ‘blue’ bin and a ‘green’ one? Chances are your consciousness was raised and your behavior changed due to a campaign started more than 20 years ago – Earth Day. It started as a single day to get folks to think about the Earth and to ‘take action’ in the form of recycling.

For us, the International Day of Happiness on March 20th serves a similar purpose – to bring focus to making the world a happier place, one small act at a time.

In the most recent rankings the United States places a surprisingly low 17th among the ‘happiest countries in the world.’ (Denmark ranks #1). Yet, according to marketplace data, Americans annually spend more than $10 billion on self-improvement books, CDs, seminars and the like searching for ways to feel better and happier. Curiously, $10 billion is also the amount Americans spend every year on anti-depressant medication. Anti (the opposite of) depression. Isn’t that happiness? Maybe that is an oversimplification. Maybe not.

What is clear is that we are searching for it. A search that is not new. Happiness is one of humanity’s oldest pursuits. Philosophers pondered its meaning. Legendary thinkers questioned its achievability and contemporary self-help gurus write about the keys to finding it.

Most recently decades of scientific research demonstrate that not only is happiness attainable – it is a CHOICE. Moreover, unlike money or fame, happiness grows when it is shared. The more of it you generate in others, the more you build in yourself.

But what exactly is happiness? According to Dr. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association and “father” of the Positive Psychology movement, happiness is highly individual. It varies from one person to another and can be shaped by religious, familial and even cultural definitions.

However, five key ingredients remain universal to happiness:

1. Positive Emotions – choose to look at things from a more positive perspective

2. Engagement – get involved/curious

3. Positive Relationships – surround yourself with people who energize you

4. Meaning – find something that speaks to your soul (give back)

5. Accomplishment

And research has shown that happy, positive and optimistic people experience these outcomes:

Earn higher incomes

Set and achieve more aggressive goals

Experience less stress

Remain calm in high pressure situations

Are more energetic

Recover from illness faster

Live longer

Choosing happiness is not only a beneficial thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do – happiness has proven health and quality-of-life benefits: Positive emotions have positive effects on your health, longevity, personal relationships, creativity and work satisfaction and effectiveness. One management study proved that optimistic salespeople outperformed their pessimistic colleagues by 37%.

The American success concept is: Hard Work = Success = Happiness and sadly, this idea is misguided. Research proves that we have it backward. Neuroscience has proven that we are hard- wired to perform at our best when we are happy which is echoed in Harvard University Professor Shawn Achor’s research demonstrating that happiness is precursor to success.

So if happy people tend to be more successful, live longer, have better connections with family and friends, miss less work and support causes more, how can we become happier? Acts of Happiness is a campaign aimed to help us draw inspiration and motivation from one another – to share and spread happiness in our communities, at work, within our families and social circles. A landmark study showed that it’s as simple as showing gratitude to just three people a day. After a week, subjects in the study reported higher levels of satisfaction and happiness.